ARMED police swooped on a house in a peaceful Inverness suburb yesterday.
Officers, including members of the armed response unit, converged on the residential street in seven marked and unmarked cars.
The public were stopped from entering Woodside Brae in Westhill as the dramatic raid unfolded in the early afternoon.
It is believed a man was taken from a terrace of four properties in Woodside Brae not long after the squad arrived.
The house was at the centre of police activity for the rest of the afternoon and into the evening.
Police said the incident was part of an ongoing inquiry but would not reveal which investigation it was linked to.
Officers remained at the property yesterday afternoon.
The curtains were drawn but hands wearing blue protective gloves could be seen at a window as investigators went about their work inside.
A search dog team was also at the scene.
Later in the afternoon, officers were seen carrying white overalls and face masks into the house.
Neighbours said they were stunned by the arrival of armed police in the quiet area.
One Woodside Brae resident said: “It has all come completely out of the blue.
“It’s a very quiet place where everybody knows each other and looks out for each other.
“You don’t expect to see so many police in a place like this. I just can’t believe it.
“There must be something serious in it for the police to react like that.
“It’s certainly been enough to get everyone talking. All of the neighbours just want to know what is going on.”
A police spokeswoman described the armed response as “a precautionary measure” and said officers had closed off the Westhill housing estate only while they carried out the initial raid.
Police stopped Westhill resident Dave Macbeath in his car as he tried to return home from work and told him to stay put.
He said: “I was stopped at the junction at the bottom of the road by police, who said that I couldn’t come up.
“They asked where I was going, so I showed them, and they told me just to wait for a while.
“I didn’t have to stay there for long, but there had obviously been something big going on. There were police everywhere.
“I saw at least one policeman with the full armed response gear, the gun and all of that, and there were two armed response vehicles there.
“It’s not the kind of thing you would normally expect to see on your way home.
“There’s not normally any trouble round here so it’s a complete surprise.”
A police spokeswoman said: “Police were carrying out inquiries in relation to an ongoing investigation.”
She added that a report would be sent to the procurator fiscal.